Disclaimer: El Hazard is owned by AIC/Pioneer LDC. The author owns only the writing. Fire and Lightning Chapter 2: Mizuhara's Electricial Something MKII Setting: Shininobi Central Train Station, noon The reunion was tearful. Father was filled with apologies and explanations. Mother tried to be supportive for this difficult moment. Shikei tried to tell them that he understood why they made that decision and wasn't mad. They both kept wishing his brother was here with them. It was awful for them to lose one son even if they gained another in his place. Shikei couldn't help but feel that he was a replacement for Makoto and that his parents would not accept him for himself. Shikei's concern proved legitimate as the weeks passed. Mother and Father expected him to take Makoto's classes and get his grades at Shininobi. Effectively to pick up where he left off. Shikei and Makoto may have the same brain power, but without Makoto's background in the sciences, his notes were nothing more than technobabble. Still he tried. The device Makoto invented was taken by the government. When it was used, it overloaded seriously damaging key circuits. The details of how it worked were only in Makoto's mind. Shikei worked day and night trying to reproduce what Makoto had learned and developed. His life with the yakuza taught him how to live with only a few hours of sleep a night. While everyone else was in bed, he was in the basement learning and planning. His efforts were not paying off as well as hoped. It took more than reading books on quantum mechanics to do what his brother did. He needed the original machine to even begin his search. At home things were getting worse. Mother and Father occasionally slipped, calling him Makoto. While both encouraged Shikei to continue his research, both were showing signs they were getting ready to give up. One night Father told him that it may very well be impossible to recover his brother and that no one would blame him if he accepted this. Shikei was appalled. He knew his parents were used to having one son. Were they willing to let one go if there was an identical one to take his place? True, it was probably their way of coping with their loss, but they had to realize he and Makoto were two different people. They might have started as one, identical in body, mind, and soul, but fate made each unique. He had trouble thinking of them has his parents while they had no problem accepting the proverbial 'long lost twin' into the family. Their ease, despite the situation, made Shikei uneasy. He wanted to return their love and reclaim what destiny had taken. But he couldn't stop remembering how they gave him up. Sure, he understood their reasons and he would probably do the same thing. However understanding and empathy did not imply approval. Poisonous thoughts entered Shikei's mind. Since they were so 'willing' to give up on Makoto, perhaps they were equally willing to surrender him. School was not much different. Students and teachers were used to the Mizuhara boy being polite, helpful, and intelligent and Shikei didn't disappoint. He accepted it as part of his nature and was a little disturbed to find out just how much he and his twin were alike. However several times he overheard people talking about him, about how much he was like Makoto except for that dangerous look in his eyes. People could almost see a fire burning behind his irises which made them slightly uneasy. That fire reminded them he was not Makoto. Shikei took comfort in that difference. He was more used to violence. He knew how to kill a person several different ways and something about that showed in his eyes. It was a type of confidence, almost superiority, which gleamed in his eyes even as he politely picked up a notebook dropped by a classmate or laughed at one of the sensei's lame jokes. The real difference was in the Kenjutsu club. After the third practice he had risen to top swordsman and was teaching new moves to the instructors. He was even able to join the team in a competition at another school and personally fought some loudmouth who called himself 'Blue Thunder'. Their match lasted only as long as Shikei allowed. He let his opponent demonstrate all his techniques, studying them while blocking every one, until he was sufficiently exhausted before shattering his bokken at the hilt with one blow. The poor guy fainted from the surprise. The easy victory made Shikei quit the club. There was no challenge and too many rules.'Blue Thunder' was good, but rather predictable and his techniques while looking impressive, easily countered. If he was the best the schools had offer, then why bother? One night around 2am Shikei was hunched over his desk. Behind him was a half- constructed prototype Makoto built before starting from scratch at the school. Home didn't have the electrical power or space he needed to work. Earlier he found some more of Makoto's notes at school. They contained the basic concept of his device, a dimensional portal. Shikei suspected that weeks before, but to find actual proof.... The idea of crossing dimensions was mind-boggling. The process involved a matter/energy conversion that made Shikei's head ache just by thinking about it. Some noise at his feet drew his attention away from the notebook. Yoroi and Toshi were constantly getting into mischief. This time they found a dog's chew toy and were wrestling it together. He played with them for a moment. They coordinated well, working as a team to catch the toy Shikei wiggled between them. He watched their movements, how one would help the other. It made him want to find his own brother more. The time had come for more drastic steps. Hacking into the government files was easy. When he visited the office after school that day, he stole a peak at the password list. They wouldn't return Makoto's device even though it was of no use to them, siting national security. Shikei read the truth in their eyes. They hoped to one day crack Makoto's secret and were jealous some brat beat them to it. The device had not been moved, or even looked at, since they put it in a warehouse two weeks ago. Apparently they have given up to wait for related development to be discovered. Breaking in and taking what he needed was another matter. He understood enough of the blueprint to know what he needed. The key component was the usage log. It kept track of the settings and connections of the device. This was where the government goofed. Makoto may have been a technical genius, but he still had horrible handwriting. His notation for the usage log was mistaken for a capacitor. Once he had that, duplicating the accident would be much easier. This mission was different than before. No killing. He couldn't even knock out a single guard. These weren't criminal thugs, they were honest hard-working citizens. The equipment he could bring was very limited. Bringing a weapon, even for self-defense, would be too dangerous. Having a weapon implied that it would be used. Same for smoke bombs. Rope, simple tools, and his night suit was all he would bring. Yoroi and Toshi insisted on coming along. Since most legitimate guards weren't too well trained, especially those guarding a half-forgotten warehouse. Any musky smell from his ferrets would go unnoticed or at least unnoted. Things were going as planned. Nothing more than token barb wire and security camera protected the warehouse. Shikei darted behind confiscated electronics and bootleg CDS, minor stuff. He wondered what kind of bureaucrat decided to put a burned out dimensional generator among stolen televisions. Probably the same kind of person who didn't think a high school student could making anything worth protecting. The device was covered with a tarp. There were obvious signs of tampering. It looked like someone tried to take it apart and did a poor job putting it back together. Shikei looked over the blue prints again, comparing them to this new 'configuration'. He quickly opened panels and poked around inside. A sound told him a guard was coming. Moments before he would have been discovered, he found the log in a hard drive smaller than a paperback book, just as the blue print said. He yanked the drive from the slot and was back in the shadows before anyone was the wiser. When he plugged the log into the prototype, Shikei was amazed at the circumstances behind Makoto's accident. By all rights the device should have exploded. Every circuit was overloaded with electricity. The connections were all wrong. What was going on that night? A week passed. Shikei spent most of it in the basement developing Makoto's prototype into the real thing. This time it would be better. The wires would be better, storage batteries were added and were slowly being charged. Now it would run off a household current, albeit it can only be used infrequently. Shikei had to make two other trips to the warehouse for key parts. Both times nothing happened except he had the strange feeling he was being watched. Mom and Dad had to leave on separate business trips. From what Shikei understood, that was a usual occurrence. Apparently Makoto didn't notice too much since he was always tinkering with his experiments. Or perhaps that is why he started experimenting in the first place? Like every night for the past few days Shikei was in the basement working more with Makoto's device. Without the experience or knowledge Makoto had with quantum mechanics and electro-magnetic physics Shikei had to hardwired the device for whatever settings it was on when Makoto disappeared. Shikei put the last connection into the slot and took a step back. This is it. After who knows how many weeks of work involving a crash course in multiple advanced sciences (several of which were still in the theoretical stages), it was finally ready for the first test. Shikei had no idea what was going to happen and he wanted to be ready. He wore his combat suit of urban camouflage with both swords strapped to his back. Beforehand he cleaned and loaded his throwing spike launcher. He had a belt with compartments for smoke bombs and other equipment. Finishing the outfit was his bandoleer of throwing stars. With everything ready he turned it on. A green-blue orb faded into existence. Shikei shielded his eyes and moved closer, hand ready to draw katana at a moment's notice. A figure was thrown out and landed at his feet. Shikei recognized him instantly, Makoto. "Cold, so cold." he muttered curling up into the fetal position. It took Shikei only a fast minute to put a blanket around his brother. "Makoto, wake up. Please wake up. You're home now." "Home?" Makoto said slowly opening his eyes. When his twin came into focus he gasped and move back. "Who ... who are you?" Shikei smiled, "Well this might sound crazy, but I'm your twin brother, Shikei." "Brother? I don't have a brother." Makoto said sitting up, his eyes never moving from Shikei's face. "I would have said the same thing before I came here. But it's true. Our parents ... gave me to a wandering martial artist for training to fulfil a debt of honor. Before my master passed on he told me to go home." Shikei explained. He hated to lie to his brother, but the truth was more complicated than that. Worse, he feared it might damage any potential relationship between him and Makoto. Besides, it really didn't matter. Makoto put his hand on Shikei's shoulder and smiled, "When did you come back?" "Right after you disappeared. Where did you go? What happened to you? Ever since I moved here I've been working on that machine to find out what happened." "You did a pretty good job. I thought getting back was no trouble but something happened. Say, where are Mom and Dad? It's a long story and I don't have time to repeat it." "Gone on business trips." Makoto rolled his eyes, "Again? You'd think they'd stop after I vanished." Shikei looked disappointed, "They did. But when they got themselves believing I was you, they started again. I'll fix some tea and you can tell me everything." Hours later Makoto was finishing telling his story. Wet tea bags and the remains of a snack were on the table as Makoto finished. "Once the Eye of God cast me home I found I couldn't make it back. I was trapped in this dimensional limbo for gosh knows how long. What happened?" "My guess is that you needed a working portal on this end too. When the government took apart your device, the connection between Earth and El Hazard was damaged. After fixing and activating your prototype, it was restored and you came back." "How long before you can get it working again?" "With your help, a few hours. But it will take some time before the capacitors are charged again." "I've got to get back." Makoto said with surprising force. Shikei looked at him with sympathy and understanding. "What about Mom and Dad? Aren't you going to tell them?" "... I don't know. I built the dimensional gateway to explore new worlds. But I never thought it would actually work. I wanted to bring everyone else back. It was my fault they were there in the first place. But after a while they made new lives for themselves, like they didn't want to return to Earth. ... And I didn't either." Shikei smiled, "I know. It's your choice. I haven't really bonded with them. Frankly it doesn't matter to me. But I lost you once, Brother. I can't let it happen again." "You want to come with me?!" "Yes." he said leading Makoto down the stairs, "Someone's got to protect you and Rune. " While Makoto modified the prototype, Shikei prepared to leave. There wasn't too much to bring. Mementos mostly. The worst part was preparing a letter for the Jinnais. How do you tell grieving parents that one child is a power-hungry mass-murderer while the other owns her own shop and neither act like they want to come home again. They simply decided to say both were happy and safe. The half-truth would be easier to accept than the brutal reality. The twins discussed what their story would be, how to best break the news to their parents. They decided to tell them in a note Shikei had succeeded, but Makoto was pulled back and Shikei followed. No promise to return, only an apology and words of love and finality with a request that the device not be touched. The request disguised the slim possibility of a reunion. Shikei voiced his concerns about the government. Securing the device against tampering would take too long. Rigging it to self-destruct after they left was too risky. Finally Makoto found a way to copy the proper settings on the spare log file then set the prototype to overload in much the same way as the first time. The two stood before the machine. "Last chance to back out." Makoto said. "Don't get cold feet. Let's do it." Shikei replied, his ferrets fidgeted in anticipation. "Here we go." Makoto said turning the dial. The green orb appeared again, smaller this time, its light not as bright. White light filled the small room blocking everything except the orb out as if it had some kind of substance. Shikei felt himself being lifted from the floor and pulled into the orb. Instinctively he tried to resist, but there was nothing to grab onto. Yoroi and Toshi floated freely beside him. Each tried to 'swim' to a sleeve or something to hold onto. But instead they floated further away as the light took them from Earth.